Big Brother
by BoundLight
Summary: Gabriel and Dean butt heads after Castiel is injured.
1. Chapter 1

This story was requested by my beta.

I posted it early this morning, but FFnet seems to have taken it down or something, so I'm re-posting it. My apologizes to anyone who favorited or alerted it before I was able to fix it. You'll probably have to do it again

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Thunder cracked, and a bright light filled the room for a moment. Sam froze. "Did you hear something?"

Dean laughed. "Of course I heard something. I'm pretty sure _everyone_ in the radius of a few _miles_ heard something."

"No, no, no. It was something else. It sounded like someone knocked."

They both turned towards the door. Another rumble filled the room. Dean jumped as they heard someone banging forcefully. Sam leapt to his feet. "Told you!" He went to the door and pulled it open. "Uh, Dean…"

Dean ran over and stopped in shock.

Gabriel stood before them, holding a very bloody, unconscious Castiel. Gabriel scowled at his brother. "He insisted on knocking. Something about you two not _liking _it when he 'popped' in."

Dean clenched his fists and glared. "What the Hell did you do to him?"

They heard a door open further down the hall. Sam quickly grabbed Gabriel, pulling him into the room, and closed the door firmly behind them.

Gabriel's hold on Castiel tightened. "Me? You think _I_ did this?"

"Why not? Last time you saw him you threw him against a wall, sent him to get beaten up, and then slapped tape over his mouth!"

Gabriel frowned, and looked at his brother sadly before moving to arrange him on a bed. He sat down next to him, running a hand through his brother's hair.

Dean and Sam shared a confused look. Gabriel was acting strangely. Dean had had enough. He stormed over to the arch-angel and grabbed his shoulder roughly. "Listen! You tell me what you did to him right now, or else!"

Gabriel scowled "Or else what?" He snapped his fingers and Dean disappeared.

Sam eyed the being in front of him with caution, and carefully moved closer. "Where did you send him?"

Gabriel turned back to Castiel. "Oh… away."

Dean was alone in a room with Sam. He smirked. "That was weird."

Sam chuckled. "Tell me about it."

"Where did Cas go?"

Suddenly the door was violently kicked open; two men rushed in. One held Dean while the second shot Sam repeatedly in the chest and face.

Dean struggled against his captor, and screamed, "No! Get off him you bastard!"

Sam fell to the ground, dead. The man behind Dean let him go. He rushed forward and cradled his brother to his chest, tears streaming down his face.

Sam vanished.

Confused, Dean stood up as the world changed.

He was standing by the Impala outside a motel. Sam exited a room carrying two bags. Dean's eyes widened in shock as Sam smiled. "Help pack up, jerk."

Dean couldn't help but stared as Sam handed him a bag. Sam laughed. "What is your problem?"

Dean shook himself. "Uh. Nothing, nothing."

Sam threw a bag into the trunk. A gun discharged, blowing a hole into the back of his head.

"Sam!"

The world changed.

Sam was walking in front of him as they exited a police station. He slipped on a frozen patch of ice, and fell down a flight of stairs, twisting his neck violently

The world changed.

Sam was sitting across from him at a diner.

Dean pushed a way and stood up. "God damn it, Gabriel!"

The world paused, and the arch-angel appeared before him. Dean was seething. "What the Hell is going on!"

Gabriel stalked towards the hunter. Dean backed up, until he collided with a wall. Gabriel leaned close into his personal space. "You have known your brother for 30 odd years. I have known mine for _centuries. _You think your love is _stronger_?"

Dean blinked at Gabriel's intense stare, and swallowed nervously. "If you didn't hurt him, than who did?"

"Demon's" Gabriel growled.

"Okay, then let's go find them."

Gabriel smiled coldly. "They're already dead." The angel straightened, and took a step back. Dean relaxed slightly. Gabriel walked back to the booth and sat down next to the frozen Sam, taking the cup from his hands and drinking deeply from it. Dean joined him. "So, uh. If you care about Cas so much, why did you beat him up so bad the last time you were together?"

Gabriel shrugged, helping himself to Sam's toast. "To teach him a lesson."

"And what lesson was that?"

"That you'll be the death of him."

They sat in an uncomfortable silence until finally Dean cleared his throat. "So, can we get back to them now?"

Gabriel smiled, and snapped his fingers.

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Reviews make Gabriel happy. It's true!


	2. Chapter 2

Once more, this is dedicated to Josafeena who kicked me into gear about updating this story. It is also dedicated to all ya'll who reviewed, because I love you.

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Dean reappeared in the room.

For a minute he watched his brother. When Sam did not suddenly die he ran forward and hugged him tight. Just as quickly he let go, and cleared his throat awkwardly.

He turned back to Gabriel. "Okay, so how did this happen?"

* * *

Castiel was sitting in a park, watching the sun set. All the children had gone, but the area was full of life. Cricket's chirped, mice ran, and owls flew. He watched the stars, marveling in all of God's creations.

And then he felt it.

His powers were dwindling, but the angel could still feel the demon's movement. He frowned. Actually it felt like more than one. It felt like… five. He knew he should do something, but now that he was incapable of banishing them with a touch, every encounter was a little more dangerous, and a little more foolish.

The demons shifted. It looked like he wouldn't have to decide anyway. They were heading towards him.

"Well, well, well. Looks like we caught ourselves an angel, boys." There was a laugh. "Half of one anyway."

Castiel turned his head. Five teenagers were approaching him. Beneath their skin Castiel watched maggots squirm and twist in obscene patterns.

Their leader was wearing a young girl. She stepped forward, leaning into his personal space, smiling lewdly. "So, are you going to come quietly, or are you going to show us a good time?"

He knew the wise thing to do was run.

Briefly he closed his eyes, and said a short prayer for their souls. Then he snapped the girl's neck. He tossed her to the ground so hard her body bounced.

The demon standing behind her attacked; the blade he carried couldn't kill an angel, but it was designed to torture one. Castiel gracefully avoided it, twisting the demons arm so he stabbed himself.

Castiel wretched the blade from hands, and used it to disembowel the next demon to come at him.

He felt a sharp pain below his ribs. He tried to turn, but he couldn't. He looked down and saw the leader's hand protruding from his stomach.

She smirked, and began cutting intricate patterns into his back with her free hand. "Gottcha now, little boy."

The other demons descended on him, their blades digging in everywhere they could reach. Castiel deflected what he could, but with a limited range of motion, he wasn't able to do much, and soon he began to really feel how much blood he had lost. His consciousness started to drift, and his vision began to fade.

The leader pulled her hand out with a sickening squelch. No longer supported, Castiel fell to his knees.

Her bloody hand twisted in his hair, yanking his head up; he bit back a groan.

She kissed him softly. "Oh, poor angel. How does it feel knowing nobody wants to save you?" The demons surrounding them started to laugh.

Castiel closed his eyes and summoned what little remained of his grace. He couldn't banish them, but hopefully being this close to an explosion of holiness would kill them. If not, hopefully it would kill him.

He paused; he felt something.

He pushed his awareness outside their small circle and felt an aura of something strong. Briefly he wondered what it was, and if he should try to call for help. Then the circle began to close in around him and he realized he was being foolish. No one was capable of helping him. He closed his eyes, gave a short prayer for his soul, and awaited the killing blow.

"So, what's going on over here?" There was no way.

A demon laughed. "Who are you supposed to be?" He didn't care about him! He _left heaven_. Why should he try to protect him now?

"You might want to back off now." The hand in his hair tightened.

"You're going to have to make me." Castiel opened his eyes and saw his brother smile.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

The demon shoved him to the ground sharply; she knew he wasn't going anywhere. She sauntered over to Gabriel, her partner's moving to flank her. She smiled. "You're going to regret being a good samaritan, old man."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "You're going to regret touching my brother."

The demons stopped. "Your brother?"

Lightning cracked as Gabriel unfurled his wings. He unleashed his grace and the demons eyes melted before their bodies were burnt to a cinder.

With a smirk he pulled his grace back in, and cloaked his wings once more. Casually he made his way to where Castiel lay in a pool of his own blood.

Gabriel sighed. "You know, it's really stupid to take on a bunch of demons with no back up."

Castiel groaned.

Gabriel nodded. "Yeah, I thought you'd say that. Don't worry; it'll be over in a minute." He placed a hand on Castiel's back, washing him in a brilliant gold light.

Casitel's clothing mended, but he made no move to stand up.

Confused, the archangel tried to turn his brother over. Gabriel dropped him instantly when Castiel shouted in pain.

Gabriel frowned; he waved a hand, and Castiel was naked from the waist up. "Those bastards." He ran a hand across the bright red mark still oozing blood surrounding an ugly hole. They made up a sigil designed to stop another angel from healing the wounds.

"Sorry, bro. Looks like you have to take care of these yourself."

Castiel panted, a small smile graced his face. "It's alright. Thank you for trying."

Gabriel nodded slowly, clearly upset with the outcome. "Okay… where are those morons you hang out with? You need somewhere to recover."

Hesitantly Castiel gave him the address. As the world began to spin he grabbed the archangel's collar tightly. "You can't just appear in the room. You have to knock."

Gabriel frowned, and was about to argue the point when Castiel went limp in his arms, dead to the world.

* * *

"Five? He took on _five_ demons?"

Gabriel nodded sadly.

Dean shoved past him and gripped Castiel tightly by the lapels of his coat, yanking him up. "What the hell were you thinking? If you find five demons coming at you, you _run_ featherbrain!"

Almost instantly Dean pushed the angel back into the bed, and walked away, running a hand across his face in agitation.

Gabriel moved to lie down, pulling his brother against him. Sam sat down and took Castiel's hand reassuringly. "How much longer do you think he'll be like this?"

Gabriel adjusted until he was comfortable. "I don't know. Zach's been a real dick, so who knows how his grace is taking this. But hopefully by tomorrow he'll have healed that damn hole."

Dean slowly walked back to them, and sat down at the foot of the bed. "What if he hasn't?"

Gabriel closed his eyes. "Well then, hopefully the hospital doesn't ask too many questions."

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This story was way more popular than I was expecting, so I hope you guys like this addition.

So, you should review. You totally should. Because I would love you if you did. And Gabriel would love you too.


	3. Chapter 3

Wow, so… yeah, an update. I know a lot of you requested me to continue, and this is for all of you, but most especially RogueWhisper who really made me laugh, and caught me at the perfect time of having just posted something else and having nothing better to do.

Please enjoy!

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Dean woke up as the sun pierced the sky. Red light filtered into the room. He stood up and approached the bed slowly.

Castiel's eyes were clenched shut as he panted. He was shivering, and was covered in sweat.

Gabriel held him tightly, his lips pressed securely to the angel's hairline. Despite this, occasionally Castiel would shudder so violently the archangel couldn't stop him from jerking out of his arms. Gabriel would immediately pulled him back, and run a hand threw his hair, whispering soft words in enochian. Castiel would murmur back, and settle down before the cycle started again.

Dean sat down at the edge of the bed; he didn't want to disturb them.

Gabriel watched him and raised an eyebrow. Dean ducked his head.

When Sam woke up Dean went back to wandering around the room, occasionally stealing glances at the bed.

As the afternoon wore on Sam decided to bring it up. He cleared his throat. "He's not getting any better."

Gabriel frowned and shifted, pushing Castiel beneath him. His hands skated up his younger brothers sides, pushing his shirt up high. Dean growled softly, but the sound died when he saw the sheer number of wounds covering the angel's chest.

Gabriel glanced at Dean. "C'mere."

Dean stepped forward. Gabriel stood up, and pushed Dean down to take his place. "Hold him."

Castiel unconsciously moved to clutch at Dean's shirt, murmuring something unintelligible, and immediately settled down once Dean's arms encircled him. Gabriel smiled and patted Dean on the back as he walked over to Sam.

The two ducked their heads, and whispered frantically, clearly having a heated conversation about their next move. Eventually Sam pulled out his computer to lend aid to either argument, Dean wasn't sure which; he wasn't really paying attention. He just watched Castiel. He noticed that the closer he was to the angel, the quieter he got, and the further he pulled, the more agitated. Dean ran a hand down Castiel's face. The angel leaned into it. Dean smiled.

Gabriel cleared his throat. "You can molest my brother when he's better, Dean-o."

"You were the one who dragged me down here."

"Well it's time to get up now. You're in my spot."

Dean moved to stand up. Castiel cried out. Dean immediately moved back in. "Hush, hush. It's okay." He smirked at Gabriel. "My spot now."

Gabriel glared.

Dean rolled over and spread out, cradling Castiel against his chest. Gabriel snarled, and took a menacing step forward when Sam grabbed his arm meaningfully. "When are we taking Cas in?"

Dean ran a hand down Castiel's back. Beneath the angel's shirt he could feel the skin slowly beginning to mend. It wasn't fast enough to ease his fears but it was still too much for any doctor to buy. Dean frowned at Sam. "I don't think we can."

"He could _die_, Dean."

As one the brother's turned to Gabriel. The archangel eyed his brother carefully. He nodded and strode forward, lifting Castiel out of Dean's arms. "Let's go." Sam got the door and they loaded into the Impala.

When they entered the hospital, the nurse manning the front desk eyed them critically before glancing at the waiting room. She seemed uncertain. On the one hand the dark haired man was hanging limply from one of the men's arms; on the other, they hadn't come in through the emergency room, she couldn't see any blood, and there was a line. She quickly came to a decision; after all, the dark haired man simply seemed to be unconscious. She shoved a small clip board towards Dean. "Fill this out." She turned to Sam. "What is your relation to the…patient?"

Sam and Dean glanced at each other quickly. Sam put on his best charming smile. "We're his brothers."

The nurse raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Dean filled out the form quickly and handed it back.

The nurse nodded and pointed to the waiting room. "Right. We'll call him when it's his turn, please wait over there."

The room was small, and thankfully, almost empty. Gabriel scowled, looking at people holding bleeding wounds and watching the door desperately. "Is this the way it is with you humans? You just make each other sit in a room and bleed to death while doctors take coffee breaks?"

Sam took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It's a broken system, but they're trying to do their best."

Gabriel scoffed and held his brother closer. "Yeah. Right."

Dean bit his lip, his leg twitching as he watched for the doctor.

The door opened twice while they waited. When the door opened for the third time a mousey young girl stepped out holding a clipboard close like she was having a hard time reading it. "Gregory Wilson?"

Dean jumped up and waited a moment for the others to join him. Sam rolled his eyes and leaned in close. "Seriously?"

"Well…the show's not as good as Dr. Sexy, but it'll do in a pinch."

When they reached the nurse she passed a critical eye over all of them, before resting on Castiel. "Only one of you can come in with him. If he needs to stay for observation, only family may visit."

Sam smiled. "Actually we are his family."

The nurse looked unimpressed; Sam's smile wavered. Dean cleared his throat and clapped a hand on Gabriel's shoulder. "Take care of him."

Gabriel nodded and disappeared behind the door while Sam and Dean returned to their seats.

The nurse busied herself writing notes on her clipboard as they walked. Gabriel had no idea what she could be writing; he certainly had said anything, but he refrained from reading her mind; he had more important things to be worrying about.

They reached a room with a large red four over the door. The nurse pointed to a grey bed covered in a paper sheet. "Just put him on that." She turned and started punching things into a small computer.

Gabriel set his brother down gently, and slowly pulled away; Castiel's hands followed him. Gabriel bit back a laugh and pressed a kiss to Castiel's forehead as he pushed his hands down firmly. "Be still, brother." As he rose he tried to push a little bit of his grace into the room.

He smiled when Castiel felt it and calmed.

The nurse watched him oddly and after taking his place she pulled back Castiel's eye lids to check and see if he truly was unconscious. He was.

She shot Gabriel a confused look; the archangel did his best to look innocent.

Her attention returned to Castiel.

The angel was still wearing his button down and for a moment the nurse considered how best to take his blood pressure. She sighed and set to work unbuttoning his shirt. Gabriel twitched, but said nothing.

The nurse gasped when his chest was bared. She looked at Gabriel with wide eyes and darted out of the room. Gabriel laughed. "Humans."

Within minutes doctors and nurses filled the room, checking vitals and shouting hurried orders to each other. Gabriel couldn't make heads or tails of it. He moved to follow as they wheeled Castiel down the hall, but a nurse pressed a hand to his chest halting him. "Why didn't you tell us about his injuries?"

"You never asked."

"Were you trying to hide them?"

"Then why would I have brought him to a hospital?"

Gabriel's eyes darted up as he felt Castiel leave the circle of his grace. He winced as his brother arched and gasped.

Castiel cried out as the doctor's moved to restrain him, his desperate movements causing many of his wounds to reopen. Two nurses darted away and quickly returned with restraints, tying Castiel down tight enough to prevent his movement. Another nurse moved forward with a rather long needle, and injected Castiel with a clear fluid.

Castiel's movements began to slow, and his cries began to slur.

Gabriel brushed passed the nurse and the doctors and forced his way to his brother's side.

Castiel' gazed up at him with glassy eyes. "Gabriel. Please." He tugged sluggishly at his restraints. "Help me."

Gabriel smiled sadly, and ran a hand across Castiel's face. "Sleep, brother."

Castiel fell limp.

The doctor's instantly moved back in and rushed Castiel to another room. Gabriel watched them go. A nurse behind him cleared her throat. "I'll take you back to the waiting room; we'll let you know when he's out of surgery. Come on." She tugged on his arm.

He didn't budge.

She moved in close and smiled gently. "It's okay. Your brother will be fine. Come on."

She tugged on his arm again. This time he followed.

Dean and Sam stood up when he entered the waiting room. "Well?"

"He's in surgery."

"And?"

Gabriel sighed and ran a hand roughly through his hair and sat down. "And."

Sam and Dean exchanged a look and sat down on either side of him. Sam placed a hand on the archangel's shoulder. "It's going to be okay. Castiel is tough. He'll pull through."

Gabriel's hand came up to cover Sam's. His other hand found Dean's. "He'll be okay."

Time seemed to slow as they waited. A clock sitting above a window ticked away the minutes, each tick seeming incredibly loud in the silent room. After an hour passed Gabriel growled and the clock tightened and cracked before falling off the wall. Dean laughed bitterly. "Thank God."

They all jumped when the door opened.

A doctor had replaced the nurse, as was evident from a white lab coat rather than paisley scrubs. "Are you the family of Gregory?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah. How is he?"

The doctor consulted his charts. "He's stable. Do you mind telling me how he came to be injured?"

Gabriel bit back a snarl. "He was ambushed."

Sam stepped in quickly. "By that he means, he was mugged."

The doctor frowned, clearly unconvinced, but he moved on, consulting his charts once more. "Well, your brother has numerous injuries, we were able to close them all successfully; the wound on his back is the most worrisome. It's… very deep. We're doing our best, but it will require skin grafts to fully heal, and then there are… carvings surrounding the wound. They're very faint; they seem older than the rest of his injuries. Do you know how he obtained these wounds?"

"No, sir."

"Do you know why the large injury on his back seems to be centered _around_ these carvings?"

"No, sir."

"Right. Well. He's resting now. If you'd like, you can see him, but visiting hours are over, and you will not be permitted to stay with him. You can stay here if you want. Visiting hours begin again at 9am."

Sam smiled. "Thank you, doctor. That sounds great. We'd love to see him."

Castiel lay in a darkened room. Gabriel winced in the doorway as Dean rushed forward to take hold of his hand and smooth down his hair. Sam sat on the corner of his bed and watched.

The angel looked so small. Dean was suddenly fiercely angry that the demons were already dead. He wanted to tear something apart for this.

It was too soon for all of them when the doctor returned and shooed them out.

Dean glared as Gabriel easily allowed himself to be moved from the room. He watched him suspiciously and as soon as they were alone moved forward and whispered sharply. "Why are you so willing to leave him there?"

Gabriel smirked. He walked over to the nurse manning the front desk. "Hello Miss. We need to head home; can you call us if he wakes up?"

The nurse smiled. "Of course. What is the number where we can reach you?"

Gabriel rattled off a number neither of the brothers were familiar with and quickly stepped out the door and into the crisp air. In the parking lot he closed his eyes and smiled at the moon.

Dean stepped close, and tried to get Gabriel to look at him. "Why exactly did we leave?"

Gabriel grinned. "Shh."

Dean drew back a fist. Sam grabbed his arm and pulled him away. "Whao, whao, wait. What's going on Gabe?"

Gabriel opened his eyes. "Five. Four. Three. Two." He stepped forward and reached for their foreheads.

Dean was reeling back and then… they were in Castiel's room. Gabriel snapped his fingers and the blinds snapped shut, throwing the room into an almost total blackness. With a wave a soft glow filled the room.

Dean shook his head. "You are awesome."

Gabriel nodded. "This is true."

Castiel shifted and groaned.

Dean walked close and touched his arm. Castiel winced. "What's wrong with him?"

Sam brushed the angel's hair back. "It looks like he's in pain."

"What…?" Dean pulled back his hand. It was covered in a thick black liquid.

Then Castiel was arching off the bed, an inhuman scream tearing out of his throat. He fell back with a gasp, and writhed on the bed as a dark black fluid leaked from every wound.

Dean quickly got onto the bed and wrapped his arms around the angel, holding him as close as he could, unmindful of the stains growing on his shirt and jeans. Sam stumbled back until he collided with Gabriel. "What's going on?" He whispered.

Gabriel touched his arm reassuringly. "He's fighting it."

Dean bit back a curse as Castiel struggled violently in his arms. With the liquid sludge between them, it was becoming harder and harder to hold on.

Suddenly Castiel went completely rigid.

Dean squeezed his eyes shut as a brilliant golden light began slowly consumed the angel in his arms. It was too much, too bright; Dean struggled not to cry out as it began to burn against his skin.

And then it was gone.

Castiel collapsed against him.

Dean opened his eyes, and for a moment could see nothing. Slowly the room came back into focus. Sam stood by the door with his arms raised in front of him. He was blinking rapidly as well.

Gabriel was instantly beside the bed, his hand cupping Castiel's face. The angel was still unconscious, but Gabriel seemed ecstatic.

Dean slipped a hand carefully into the thin robe the doctors had covered Castiel with and felt completely unmarred skin; he was fully healed.

Gabriel pressed a soft kiss to his brother's forehead. "Good job, bro."

-end-

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Again, sorry for the wait. I hope you like this ending.

Review?


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